Inflatable insulating mattress



Nov. 13, 1962 w. L. MORRISON INFLATABLE INSULATING MATTRESS Filed Jan.50, 1961 INVENTOR. M11401. flank/3M United States Patent 3,063,067INFLATABLE INSULATING MATTRESS Willard L. Morrison, Lake Forest, 111.,assignor to Liquefreeze Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation ofNew York Filed Jan. 30, 1961, Ser. No. 85,567 2 Claims. (Cl. 5-350 Myinvention relates to improvements in infiatable insulating mattress andmethod of making it.

The mattress is a self-contained inflatable insulating member or panelwhich when inflated obtains its structural strength from therelationship between the elements of the mattress in tension and thepneumatic pressure within the mattress much as an automobile tire getsits structural strength from the relationship between the tension fabricand the air pressure.

In order that the mattress may have adequate insulating effect it isnecessary that it be substantially filled with loose, fluffy, insulatingmaterial which will inhibit convection currents in the inflating air.

I propose to obtain the desired result by weaving two parallel spacedapart sheets of fabric much as carpet is woven and to join these twoparallel woven sheets by a multiplicity of yarns woven into each of thefabric sheets and extending back and forth between them. These yarnsextend through and will be looped or woven into each of the fabriclayers, will extend generally perpendicular to them and will be of soft,fluffy material having sufficient structural strength to be woven intothe fabric and to support a tension between the two fabrics but of suchcharacter that while compressed in the loop areas to be woven into thefabric, they expand between those areas more or less in contact with oneanother to generally fill the area with a soft, fluffy, fabric fillingmaterial.

Thus the parallel woven layers spaced apart as they are, are joinedtogether by the cross yarns which hold them in general parallelism.

Thereafter the two opposed fabrics will be impregnated with anelastomeric or other suitable material which will fill the interstices,enclose the threads and cause each of the two parallel sheets to be gastight. Thereafter I propose to seal the periphery about the edges of thefabrics with a gas tight structure including an inflation stem, afterwhich the pad will be inflated, exerting a tension on the cross yarnsand causing them to hold the two woven sheets in parallelism in astrong, structural relationship which is, as above indicated, a functionof the tensile strength of the material and the pressure of the air inthe chamber. The threads which form the two parallel fabrics can bereferred to as the warp threads, the woof threads are the fillingthreads or yarns which extend perpendicular to the fabric and join thetwo fabric sections.

My invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein- FIGURE 1 is a section on an enlarged scale through apart of the structure as it comes from the loom;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section similar to FIGURE 1 showing one of the wovenfabric sheets impregnated with elastomeric material to make it gastight;

Patented Nov. 13, 1962 FIGURE 4 is a section along the line 4-4 of FIG-URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a detail section on a small scale showing one edge of themattress.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specificationand drawings.

The warp, generally parallel threads 1 are interwoven with the warpthreads 2' at right angles thereto in the manner usual to carpetmanufacture. The loosely spun fluffy yarns 3 are interwoven with thethreads 1 and 2, there being an assembly of threads 1 and 2 to form theupper fabric 4 and the lower fabric 5 and the woof yarns 3 beinginterwoven at opposite sides of the structure with the warp layers. Itwill be noted that at 6 where the woof yarns are interwoven With thewarp yarns, the yarns are compacted and compressed but in the area 7between the two sheets 4- and 5, the woof yarns expand and comegenerally in contact with one another as shown at 8. The binding strip 9around the periphery of the structure joins the layers 4 and 5 togetherand is in gas tight relationship therewith to make a gas tightconnection. The filling valve 10 as is conventional in the tireindustry, makes it possible to inflate the structure.

The woof threads are so close together that when under tension they holdthe two layers 4 and 5 in general parallelism and the yarns are closeenough together so that the pressure of inflation holds them tight butis not sufiicient to stress them beyond the danger point.

I claim:

1. An insulating mattress including a pair of parallel spaced wovenfabric base sheets impregnated with elastomeric filling, woof yarnslooped and woven into the fabric sheets, extending perpendicular to andbetween them and holding them in general parallelism, a flexible gasimpervious sealing wall encircling the peripheries of the sheets andjoining them to define a gas tight reservoir, an inflation valvecommunicating with the interior of the inflatable reservoir thus formed,the woof yarns being softer than and of greater cross sectional areathan the yarns of the base sheets.

2. An insulating mattress including a pair of parallel spaced wovenfabric base sheets impregnated with elastomeric filling, woof yarnslooped and woven into the fabric sheets, extending perpendicular to andbetween them and holding them in general parallelism, a flexible gasimpervious sealing wall encircling the peripheries of the sheets andjoining them to define a gas tight reservoir, an inflation valvecommunicating with the interior of the inflatable reservoir thus formed,the woof yarns being compressed where they are woven into the basesheets but free to expand into contact with one another in the areabetween the base sheets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS679,680 Langer July 30, 1901 765,377 Busche July 19, 1904 811,407 KeilJan. 30, 1906 2,753,573 Barker -7... July 10, 1956

